Simmons & Simmons takes on communications provider Unify Simmons & Simmons filed a new part 7 claim in the Commercial Court on 30 April against corporate communications tech company Unify Software and Solutions. A part 7 claim seeks monetary damages to resolve a dispute. Unify, which is owned by Canadian telecommunications company Mitel, develops and […]
Competition specialist Hausfeld has lost its co-instruction mandate on Justin Gutmann’s boundary fares class action. Since 22 February, Charles Lyndon has been the sole representation for the class representative as the boundary fares case rolls through the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). Hausfeld had been co-instructed alongside Charles Lyndon on the Gutmann claims throughout the dispute, […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK’s litigation market. It is the May 1 and hundreds of lawyers are stepping into their first day as new partners. Litigation promotions were a mixed bag across US firms. Several major players, namely Quinn Emanuel and Hogan Lovells, did not […]
Luxury goods giant LVMH joins interchange fee dispute French luxury goods behemoth LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has swung into the merchant interchange fees dispute with over 25 separate claims filed by its subsidiaries against Visa and Mastercard between 24 and 25 April. The Lawyer understands that the claims form an addition to the long-running […]
Computer giant IBM’s mainframe litigation lands in court Today (29 April) Quinn Emanuel takes on Clifford Chance in the Technology and Construction Court for a 28-day trial that will be watched closely by tech companies and regulators across the globe. This mammoth litigation is one of The Lawyer’s top 20 cases of 2024. IBM brought […]
Formula 1 team Alpine Racing has filed a claim against its official sustainability platform partner, green investment business Ecowatt. Represented by Bird & Bird, the Renault-owned team filed a part 7 “general commercial contracts and arrangements” claim in the England and Wales Commercial Court against its sustainability partner on 25 April. A part 7 claim […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. This week, we look at why Freshfields’ NQ pay rise makes it the most desirable litigation firm for associates, and whether judge selection is still just an old boys’ club. First though, there is a sense of inevitability among […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. As the Lords and the Commons finally settled on the new Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill in the early hours of Tuesday morning, attention began to shift to how the Government planned, both practically and legally, to […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. This week, the UK Government wants more people to say they’re sorry, while we consider Monckton Chambers’ strange collection of celebrity tenants. But first, Monday saw the opening day of another Russian oligarch mega-battle in London’s Commercial Court. […]
Welcome to The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK litigation market, now brought to you on Wednesdays. Two days in to the Easter Term and there’s a definite green feel around London. Much of that has blown over from Strasbourg, which got the legal world all in a flutter yesterday. A big moment?: The […]
Ryanair launches fresh battle for the skies Budget air travel behemoth Ryanair launched a part 7 claim against the UK’s air traffic control operator, NATS (National Air Traffic Services) in the Commercial Court on Friday (19 April). The part 7 claim, which seeks monetary redress for claimed damages, is set to tackle “general commercial contracts […]
Dr Martens gives Temu the boot in new IP claim AirWair, the company behind Dr Martens, is taking on budget online marketplace Temu, registered as “Whaleco”, in a new part 7 “passing off and trade marks” claim filed in the High Court’s Intellectual Property List on 9 April. AirWair is represented by Lewis Silkin in […]
EasyGroup takes on “brand thieves” again in new suit EasyGroup, the owning group of budget airline EasyJet, has filed a part 7 “passing off and trade marks claim” in the Intellectual Property List, continuing its long-running campaign against what it calls “brand thieves”. Stephenson Harwood has been called in to represent EasyGroup in this latest […]
Greece’s largest bank in fresh dispute with Lloyd’s insurers Greece’s largest bank, Piraeus Bank, has filed a new claim in the Commercial Court alongside credit management body Intrum Hellas, against a number of insurers from Lloyd’s of London. The part 7 “insurance and/or reinsurance” claim is brought by shipping and trade law specialists BDM Law, […]
In this week’s Spotlight, we delve into the often-confusing world of restructuring disputes, to find out how DLA Piper comes to the rescue when a company goes under. The market: While restructuring disputes used to be the remit of clearing banks and the Big Four accounting firms, the market has undergone a huge diversification in […]
This week on Spotlight, we delve into the multi-jurisdictional and strategic world of enforcing arbitral awards with the London team at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. The market: There’s been a steady increase over the last several years in companies not seeing a dime following a successful arbitration award, leading to a sharp uptick in the need for […]
For this week’s Spotlight, we’re highlighting Baker McKenzie’s employment law team to see how rising industrial action, new technologies and regulations are changing the field. The market Unfair dismissal claims and misconduct remain the bread and butter of defendant side employment lawyers. However, whistleblowing claims, involving regulatory angles are taking on a growing role in […]
Sports law is increasingly competitive in the UK. As big money flows into many sports, more and more firms are seeking to take the field. But at the Bar, one chambers continues to lead the pack. So for this week’s Spotlight, we explore the history, structure and success of Blackstone Chambers’ sports law group. The […]
Womble Bond Dickinson is facing a multimillion-pound negligence claim filed by former clients over a failed real estate redevelopment project in Kensington. The claimants, businessman Kristian Siem, property developer Steven Wake and his company Chapters, were advised by WBD senior counsel (then partner) Robert Drewett in their redevelopment project in 2017. They allege that the […]
Cooley is set to defend social networking and dating app Grindr in a High Court class action launched by Austen Hays, a new collective actions firm owned by Gateley. The claim alleges that Grindr is in breach of UK data protection laws for sharing sensitive data with third parties for commercial purposes without their users’ […]
Moderna takes on Pfizer in Covid-19 patent clash Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna are due to go head to head in the Patents Court tomorrow (23 April) for a 16-day trial concerning the Covid-19 vaccines they developed during the pandemic. Freshfields is representing the claimant Moderna, while Pfizer is being represented by Taylor Wessing for […]
Mammoth SKAT case finally hits Commercial Court for longest-ever hearing The Danish Customs and Tax Administration (SKAT) begins its trial in the Commercial Court today (15 April), marking what is due to be the longest scheduled hearing in the Court’s history. One of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2024, the 12-month trial will tackle […]
In the last week of judgments this side of summer, the Court of Appeal upheld nominal damages in a libel case after a claimant was found to have lied, a class action was allowed to proceed on an opt-out basis, and Ocado claimed victory in an out-of-court settlement, suspending patent litigation. Exaggerating defamation may see […]
In the penultimate week of Trinity term, Eversheds Sutherland lost in a high-value bid to settle a long-running oil dispute, UCL student tuition fee class action was stayed, and it’s a good day for Craig Wright as the Court of Appeal sides with him in his bitcoin IP case. Eversheds fails to overturn $2bn settlement […]
New employment regulations were thrown out in the High Court this week, while the Government had more success in defending its decision to exclude a pharmaceutical body from NHS-pricing negotiations. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled on the “Quincecare” case against Barclays bank. Trade union wins against Conservative policy on striking workers A case brought against […]
This week saw a spat between rival campaign groups resolved at the General Regulatory Chamber, a former partner at DLA Piper sanctioned for a year, and a failed attempt to strike out the “tuna bonds” trial. LGB Alliance keeps its charitable status An attempt by the charity Mermaids to have the charitable status of the […]